At first glance, she looks like a typical fun-loving groovy grandma-until you learn that she's the oldest marathon runner at 92.
Harriette Thompson just decided to run not only for herself but for the sake of hundreds of patients of leukemia and lymphoma which will be the beneficiary of the marathon. What she didn't know, however, is that by doing so, she broke the record as the oldest woman runner to have ever completed a marathon.
Together with her son, Brenny, who's 56, Harriette joined the Rock 'n' Roll marathon in San Diego, where clocked in a total time of 7 hours and 24 minutes, at least 2 hours faster than Gladys Burrill who previously held the record after running for 9 hours and 23 minutes in 2010 in Hawaii. She's survived it by combining walking and running, especially in uphill places. In the end, when she reached the finished line, she was met with loud cheers and congratulations from friends, family, and strangers who were amazed by her tenacity.
However, Harriette isn't completely new to marathon. She's bee joining races for more than 10 years, never missing once except in 2013 when she faced her own battle. Back then, she was diagnosed with oral cancer. Prior to the 2015 marathon, she had to be treated for her squamous cell carcinoma on the legs, which prevented her from getting adequate training.
In other words, she's already a two-time cancer survivor on top of her other accomplishments including being a concert pianist. Sadly she's lost her husband to cancer recently and has many more friends and family who are battling the same disease. She's also running for them.
Harriette, ever so humble, felt that she doesn't really deserve all the attention she's been getting, but she thinks that it's going to help the Leukemia and Lymphoma Cancer Society, then she's all for it. In the meantime, due to her running, she has already contributed around a hundred thousand dollars to the cause of the organization.
